Large companies protect their stockholders, and who are the major stockholders in all these large companies, why the board of directors who else. "Stockholders" is code for "fuck you, I'm getting mine"

Able-bodied government freeloaders and greedy and corrupt unions are legion and threaten to bring down the economy and country no matter what the left wants to claim. Acknowledging this is verboten on the Obama left and there is a reflexive hatred for job creators no matter what the reality for a particular company's downfall might be. A dangerous development - "A rising tide lifts all boats" can be true. "A receding tide sinks us all but at least he's not richer than I am so we'll all be better off" can't be.

Other companies make equally delicious fruit pies and cream filled cupcakes, but Hostess does have the best HoHo and Twinkie type products. Snowballs suck. That's probably why they had financial problems- trying to force their "coconut on junk food" agenda on America.

@Antilokhos I agree with the union 100 percent after reading that whereas before I was only 99 percent on their side. The company stole from the worker's pension funds and didn't bother tell them. The union already had to agree to massive paycuts in 2005 and the workers had already given up like 40 percent of their salary (while the bosses kept giving themselves raises) In my opinion the only fair resolution to this crises is that the executives fork over all their money, property and possession to their former employees and then are forced to commit hari kari in the manner of a japanese samurai.

@ShowerBench Dear Ms.Bench - I realize this is the official party line in Aynrandistan or wherever it is that you reside these days but it bears no relationship to the actual positions of anyone who is currently serving in the Executive Branch nor does it represent the position of 99% of those who voted for the President's re-election, myself included. (Of course there is always the troublesome 1% as we all know.) Everyone respects actual job creators and does not begrudge them their success. However, when Papa John starts whining in public and threatening to "Go Galt" because the government might force him to pick up a small sliver of the costs for his employees health care that he is currently foisting on US taxpayers and current insurance premium payors (through Medicaid and unreimbursed emergency room care) then he is going to get a bit of PR grief. And he deserves every bit of it, if you REALLY believe in market solutions.

And frankly, if you really believe that what you wrote in your post above (and aren't just trolling to tease the liberal retards) then I believe that you may be more delusional than your radio nemesis, Messr. Whatley.

@indpendnt so your answer to a story about a bunch of executives lining their pockets with as much money as they can. Is "FUCKING GREEDY UNIONS". I see, you aren't really against greed. You just hate when employees do it, not when employers do it.

See dipshits like you are what's wrong with this country. The story was about a bunch of greedy executives. If the story was about the Unions failures then I would agree. It wasn't though, but your tiny brain really couldn't wrap your head around the story. Stop fucking spewing agenda driven bullshit.

If a story about a husband beating his wife was posted. You would tell us all the things she did wrong to deserve the beating.

@Recyclerz I can't stand Ayn Rand at least insofar as anyone takes her literally but the debate is now devolved to level of extremism. Papa John took crap for having a big house. Immediately the implication is that a job creator shouldn't have a big house if employees have small houses, putting an end to any real debate about whether and how much he should be expected to contribute to employees' health care costs and encouraging people to pick up torches and pitchforks at the sight of any evidence someone has more-than. Even the fact that the debate centers on how much in health care costs employers should be REQUIRED to be responsible for when that begs the question of whether they should be expected much less required to be responsible for any at all means a huge area of the debate has been shut down. Maybe a portion, even a majority of those defending Papa John owning a 26 bedroom house also believes that government has a legitimate role in providing health care, just not a legitimate role in forcing health care related mandates on business.

@Shaggyballz74@indpendnt This may be too simplistic, but the owners of a company can do what they want with it. The union was warned and the union felt that people losing jobs was worth making a stand. I feel that the union was wrong. The only winner in these situations is the union itself. It goes on and continues to collect dues. The execs, although they cashed out, no longer have a company to continue to make money with. The workers are jobless right before the holidays. Stay "organized" dipshits!

@Guilty Bystander ACTUALLY, they were warned that if they weren't able to come to an amicable agreement last week, the company would be liquidated. Now non union and union employees are all out of work. Great job!

@Recyclerz The only thing I would disagree with is that the absence of rhetoric around public assistance as a last resort not a way of life is a positive or compassionate development. There are more than an insignificant few for whom it is accepted and practiced as a way of life, and more than an insignificant few disability frauds. Nobody begrudges assistance for anyone who does everything they can to avoid becoming eligible but the trend of (multi-generational) dependence is a more important and consequential issue than stigma affecting people who don't deserve it.

To your second reply I don't have to admit that because as a liberal (although not the doctrinaire strawman that Fox News likes to battle) I completely agree that such a tipping point scenario exists - it's just that I don't think it is the existential crisis that you do. Is there a stratum of society that works the social safety net functions so that they don't have to work? Sure, but I think it is a lot smaller than you do. Are there people on SS disability who shouldn't be? Absolutely, and I think Obama should make every effort to work with the Republicans to straighten that system out pronto.But I think the existential crisis that we are facing is that the global economy is changing so rapidly through technological advancement and the global sourcing of labor (and all economic activity) that it has blown a huge hole in our social compact and the ship be sinking because no one at the controls is offering real solutions to the real problems that a lot of people in this country have lost jobs that are never coming back and that process is accelerating on a secular basis. The solutions offered by the "Right" - kick the lazy bums in the ass, cut taxes for the rich and government regulations - are egregiously cruel to the victims of this process for the former and ridiculously misguided and ineffectual for the latter. To be fair, I also think that the Keynesian solutions offered by Obama in his first term were necessary but don't and won't amount to much more than triage for our economy which was headed for a depression in 2008 and 2009. The global economy is being played like 3D chess today - trying to relitigate decisions that were made in the 1960's and 1930's is playing that game with checkers level strategy.

@Recyclerz And..you have to admit liberals are intolerant of any suggestion that there may be a tipping point at which entitlements become incentives for government dependency, that their growth and expansion threatens the larger economy, and that there are more able-bodied people relying on them now than there were when they were initiated to provide for the truly needy. Bill Clinton used to be mildly criticized for discussing "welfare to work" and his big theme, "if you work you shouldn't be poor." He was daring to suggest that you are expected to move into work if you are accepting welfare, and that maybe if you don't work (and can) you SHOULD be poor. That rhetoric is absent now on the Democratic side, and it's probably not a positive development.

@Shaggyballz74 well, holding a company hostage for a raise during a struggling economy when people are cutting out unnecessary items seems like it IS THE UNIONS FAULT the assholes are now out of work permanently.So yes it is the workers fault. By the way, where are your sources for these facts you are spewing?

Don't write back until you get the ball hair under control. It's coming out the top and the cuff of your pants. YOU SHOULD BE EMBARRASSED!

For 5 years financial engineers from consultancies and investment banks worked to find a way out of bankruptcy, and settled on adding even MORE debt, so that – perversely – in 2009 the renamed Hostess had $670M of debt – at least 2/3 the total asset value!

Since then, still trying to sell the same products, margins continued declining. Hostess lost a combined $250M over the last 3 years."

@creepboot45@Shaggyballz74 I think it is FUCKING hilarious that these assholes are mad at the company for doing what they'd do and are trying to do. These assholes made GREAT money. Had FANTASTIC benefits, and still wanted more! Acting like they are the only ones making concessions in an economy that is made worse by their HERO BHO. Got what you wanted, MORE unemployment in a stumbling economy with an anti-business GUVAMNT!

@indpendnt@Guilty Bystander Thank god the job creators were able to give themselves a raise first. Now they can go and <s>run other companies into the ground</s> create more jobs. As long as Obama doesn't say anything to hurt their feelings. I really miss the Gilded Age, now thanks to Obama we'll have to go back to those draconean Clinton levels of taxes. What next? We go back to that commie Eisnehower's tax rate?

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